CD ripping is the process of copying audio data from a CD and compressing it into small files. The most popular encoding format is mp3, but mp3 is patented and not free. A popular, free format is ogg.
Ripping from the command line
With several easy to use GUI rippers, ripping from the command line is mostly academic. But, it helps to understand what is happening behind the curtain. Ripping music from a CD is a two-step process:
- Copy the raw data (as a .wav) from the CD to disk
- Encode the .wav into either an .mp3 or .ogg
Copying data from a CD to .wav format is done with the cdparanoia program. You can do some wild things with cdparanoia, like ripping 12 seconds from the middle of a track. I've never wanted to do anything like that but it's possible.
To rip tracks 1-4 from a CD into separate .wav files in the current directory:
cdparanoia "1-4"
Once tracks have been copied, they can be encoded using either the ogg encoder (oggenc) or mp3 encoder (lame). The lame mp3 encoder is not included with most distros since it is patented. Uou'll have to hunt down the package and/or source code if you want to use it.
To encode to an ogg at 128 kb/s (creates input.ogg):
oggenc -b 128 input.wav
To encode to an mp3 at 128 kb/s (creates input.mp3):
lame -h input.wav input.mp3
GUI rippers
Probably the easiest way to rip is to use the KDE Konqueror file manager audiocd IO slave. With an audio CD loaded, open Konqueror, enter audiocd:/. It should display the raw audio CD data and virtual directories for each available encoder. Browse the ogg or mp3 virtual directories and drag the tracks you want to rip to a directory on disk. It will copy/encode the tracks in that format.
The Xandros file manager (enhanced Konqueror) is just as easy. Browse the CD, drag the tracks to a directory on disk and it will present a dialog box asking how it should encode the tracks.
Another great ripper is grip. It includes very detailed documentation, so there is no need to repeat it.
